News Article

Australia Gets 3DS on March 31st for $349

The launch date calendar for 3DS is now complete, with the announcement that gamers in Australia will be able to buy the console from March 31st for AUS$349, around £220 / $356 USD.

The system will be available in Cosmos Black and Aqua Blue, but Nintendo of Australia has not yet announced the official launch line-up for day one. However, it will likely be similar to Europe's 3DS launch games, which boasts 13 titles for day one.

I'm just glad it isn't $400 and this is just the RRP yes? You know, I've never seen anything sold here that went for RRP everywhere at launch. I wouldn't be surprised if BigW and JBs have it for ~$330 at launch causing the system not to sell at EB who never drop their prices.

Eh, the price doesn't bother me. In fact, it's the exact RRP I was hoping it would be.

As for us potentially having the same launch titles as the UK...if they have more games on the 1st of April then chances are we'll have those as well, except at launch. Plus, having exactly thirteen * titles from which to choose on launch day may just turn away those superstitious Aussie Nintendo fans from picking up any games at launch!

I've always wanted to live in Australia, but the way it keeps getting screwed by the gaming industry (nobody's fault, just Australia's location) has successfully dissuaded me from ever realizing that. I'll stay here in America and enjoy my lower-priced games, thanks.

This was kind of my best hope and what I was expecting. The Nintendo Wii launched for AU$400 and I think some people were fearing (and even expecting) the Nintendo 3DS would be the same. In my opinion there is no way they could put it the same as the Nintendo Wii at launch because typically it can only entertain one person at a time - I mean that's a lot for a parent to spend on a single child, that I believe a major demographic.

@20. It's not really the misunderstanding, it's more of a matter of choice. Why on earth would I pay 350 bucks when I could get it for 270 (including shipping) elsewhere?

A couple of things:

1) For support. If something goes wrong with an import 3DS, it's that much more of a pain to get the problem fixed.

2) To support the company. Yes, you'll save $50 or whatever (after shipping). You're also bringing Nintendo one step closer to pulling out of the market entirely. One or two imports won't hurt Nintendo. If it happened en masse, Nintendo won't be here at all any more.

Given that we're all meant to be Nintendo fans, and given that $350 AU is actually quite reasonable for the console, it's probably a good thing to support the local guys.

3) Importing every single game that you want to play is a pain. I'm all against region locking, but I also like to believe people that do import also occasionally buy local. Because it's more convenient and because, again, it supports the local industry. Having to import every single game you want to play encorages every other publisher to also pull out of Australia, and is a pain in the neck when it comes to those nice little impulse purchases that make a retail experience fun.

According to Techday, the 3DS arrives in New Zealand on the same date and at the roughly equivalent price of $449 NZD. You can buy a brand-new Wii bundled with Sports Resort, 1 controller with built-in MotionPlus and 1 Nunchuck for $100 less than that.

@Zach - thanks. I'll have a look into that. The free delivery is especially good, as I probably won't be able to get into town to buy it around that time.

EDIT: they are also selling the 3DS separately for $328. BigW usually have good prices (I got my DSi for $200 just as the XL came out). But gonna wait to see what JB Hifi are offering first, as they usually have free postage too.

@ Bluesonic: The Australian 3DS is a PAL region console, meaning that it can already play European games in addition to Australian ones (besides, buying the 3DS from Europe would be more expensive than buying it locally). If you're going to import a 3DS, you'd be better off buying an American one.

Wow. Big W's deal is pretty damn sweet considering that they're giving us a game without further upping the price. Unless a better deal surfaces, or if I can score myself a similar deal but with The Sims 3 instead, then I'm completely sold. In truth, I'd rather wait a bit and get myself a purple or green 3DS, but I don't think I have the willpower to wait any longer seeing as I've resisted all of the DS revisions released to date.

@29.WaltzElf: I totally agree with you, but I've given so much money to video game companies here, the region locking is just a kick in the balls. If there was no region lock, I would've happily bought the system locally.

And besides, Nintendo of Australia's repairs service has always been great (they fix dead save batteries in old games for free), so I hope they won't have any issues fixing imported stuff, even if I have to pay.

@29.WaltzElf - why support a local industry (in this case, the gaming industry), that doesn't support me? Higher prices, games come later, games cost more & now 3DS region locking. I'm tired of paying more for less So importing is my way of saying to Ninty Australia (& bipartisan the local gaming industry) that ripping me off as a consumer is no longer acceptable.

They should buy it in america. with the money you save you can buy two wii games! or 10 wiiware games! or 2.5 3ds games! or 2.3 ds games! or 20 virtual console 500 point games! or 12.5 800 point wiiware games!

@tristenj1992 its not the gaming industry its our government and our currency our country has no R18+ rating so when a R18+ game comes out its dubbed down to MA15+ terrible hey(this is trying to be fixed so we do have an R18+ rating) but our Australian dollar is worth less to your dollar therefore everything is more expensive for that reason i don't care as long as its released here

1) For support. If something goes wrong with an import 3DS, it's that much more of a pain to get the problem fixed

Depending where you get it from, it doesn't have to be, I sent my imported American Wii overseas to get fixed, the money for the shipping was transferred into my bank account upon e-mailing the receipt, and I had it back within two weeks with all my VC/WiiWare available to download again.

It took two months to get my damn L button on my DSi fixed in Australia.

2) To support the company. Yes, you'll save $50 or whatever (after shipping). You're also bringing Nintendo one step closer to pulling out of the market entirely. One or two imports won't hurt Nintendo. If it happened en masse, Nintendo won't be here at all any more.

Given that we're all meant to be Nintendo fans, and given that $350 AU is actually quite reasonable for the console, it's probably a good thing to support the local guys.

Perhaps Nintendo in its entirety for future's sake take region locking out, and support us by giving us an option, it's the only reason I didn't import a PS3, I didn't need to, plus I can access whatever Playstation Store I like.

And yes, I'm a Nintendo fan, so I'll be getting a 3DS without question, and I'll be waiting for the day when a game Nintendo brings out in Japan and the States doesn't come out over here, I can support them by still buying that game.

3) Importing every single game that you want to play is a pain. I'm all against region locking, but I also like to believe people that do import also occasionally buy local. Because it's more convenient and because, again, it supports the local industry. Having to import every single game you want to play encorages every other publisher to also pull out of Australia, and is a pain in the neck when it comes to those nice little impulse purchases that make a retail experience fun.

Which is why I buy half of my DS games over here, I have the opportunity, JB HiFi are often clearing out games I enjoy and I can get them cheap enough and still impulse buy.

i do that import games that we can't get here but only if the game isn't going to b released here or its the R18+ version but that's all i do that for but yea buying them here does support our retailers